WFO San Angelo Climatology

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX
450 PM CST MON FEB 4 2008

...PRECIPITATION WAS BELOW NORMAL ACROSS WEST CENTRAL TEXAS IN
JANUARY...

WITH THE EXCEPTION OF NORTHWESTERN CROCKETT COUNTY INTO
SOUTHWESTERN IRION COUNTY...PRECIPITATION WAS WELL BELOW NORMAL
ACROSS WEST CENTRAL TEXAS IN JANUARY. THE GREATEST MONTHLY
PRECIPITATION... IN THE ONE HALF TO ONE INCH RANGE...OCCURRED
ACROSS NORTHWEST CROCKETT COUNTY INTO SOUTHWEST IRION COUNTY...
AND ACROSS PARTS OF RUNNELS...COLEMAN AND BROWN COUNTIES. FOR
MANY LOCATIONS... THE JANUARY PRECIPITATION WAS LESS THAN 25
PERCENT OF NORMAL.

TEMPERATURES AVERAGED NEAR NORMAL FOR THE MONTH.

AT ABILENE REGIONAL AIRPORT...THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR JANUARY
WAS 44.4 DEGREES. THIS WAS 0.9 DEGREES ABOVE THE NORMAL AVERAGE
TEMPERATURE OF 43.5 DEGREES. TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR JANUARY WAS
ONLY 0.08 INCHES. THIS WAS 0.89 INCHES BELOW THE MONTHLY NORMAL
OF 0.97 INCHES. NO SNOWFALL WAS RECORDED IN ABILENE IN JANUARY.

AT SAN ANGELO REGIONAL AIRPORT...THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR
JANUARY WAS 44.8 DEGREES. THIS WAS 0.1 DEGREES BELOW THE NORMAL
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 44.9 DEGREES. TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR
JANUARY WAS 0.39 INCHES. THIS WAS 0.43 INCHES BELOW THE MONTHLY
NORMAL OF 0.82 INCHES. NO SNOWFALL WAS RECORDED IN SAN ANGELO
IN JANUARY.


JANUARY 2008 WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS...

A DRY AND COLD AIRMASS OCCUPIED THE REGION DURING THE FIRST FEW
DAYS OF JANUARY...AS A STRONG HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVED SOUTHEAST
ACROSS THE REGION. SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST WINDS ON THE BACK SIDE OF
THIS HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM RESULTED IN MUCH WARMER TEMPERATURES ON
THE 5TH THROUGH THE 7TH...WHEN HIGH TEMPERATURES REACHED WELL INTO
THE 70S.

FOLLOWING A STRONG COLD FRONTAL PASSAGE ON THE 16TH...PATCHY LIGHT
SNOW OCCURRED IN THE NORTHERN BIG COUNTRY ON THE 17TH. TEMPERATURES
DIPPED INTO THE TEENS FOR LOWS AT A NUMBER OF LOCATIONS ON THE 19TH
AND 20TH.

AFTER ANOTHER STRONG COLD FRONTAL PASSAGE ON THE 22ND...A COLD
AIRMASS LINGERED OVER WEST-CENTRAL TEXAS FOR A FEW DAYS. A RETURN OF
MOISTURE UP AND OVER THIS COLD AIRMASS...COMBINED WITH THE APPROACH
OF AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE...RESULTED IN PERIODS OF FREEZING
RAIN. THE FREEZING RAIN WAS MIXED WITH SLEET AT TIMES...AND THIS
OCCURRED FROM THE 24TH INTO THE MORNING HOURS OF THE 25TH.
ALTHOUGH TEMPERATURES WERE AT OR JUST BELOW FREEZING DURING THIS
TIME...THE WARMER GROUND TEMPERATURES ALLOWED MOST OF THIS
PRECIPITATION TO MELT. SLICK SPOTS DEVELOPED ON A FEW ELEVATED
ROAD SURFACES...AND ACROSS THE AREAS AT A SLIGHTLY HIGHER
ELEVATION. SOME OF THE TREES ALSO RECEIVED A LIGHT COATING OF ICE.
CONDITIONS WOULD HAVE BEEN CONSIDERABLY WORSE HAD TEMPERATURES
BEEN A FEW DEGREES COLDER.

A RETURN OF SOUTH WINDS ALLOWED FOR A QUICK WARMUP ON THE 26TH AND
27TH. TEMPERATURES WARMED INTO THE 70S FOR HIGHS ON THE 27TH. GUSTY
SOUTH WINDS OCCURRED ON THE 28TH. PEAK WIND GUSTS REACHED 45 MPH AT
ABILENE AND 41 MPH AT SAN ANGELO.

WITH THE PASSAGE OF A COLD FRONT ON THE 29TH...STRONG GUSTY NORTH
TO NORTHWEST WINDS OCCURRED. PEAK WIND GUSTS REACHED 49 MPH AT
ABILENE...47 MPH AT SAN ANGELO...AND 44 MPH AT JUNCTION. WITH THESE
WINDS...VERY DRY AIR INVADED THE REGION...AND RELATIVE HUMIDITY
VALUES DROPPED INTO THE 5 TO 15 PERCENT RANGE ACROSS WEST-CENTRAL
TEXAS. WITH THE COMBINATION OF THE STRONG WINDS AND VERY DRY AIR...
SEVERAL GRASS FIRES OCCURRED...AND A FEW OF THESE WERE LARGE. THESE
FIRES OCCURRED IN NOLAN COUNTY NEAR MARYNEAL...IN NORTHERN CALLAHAN
COUNTY...AND IN EASTERN CROCKETT COUNTY. THE FIRES IN NOLAN AND
CALLAHAN COUNTIES BURNED A FEW STRUCTURES. A LARGE FIRE IN EASTERN
CROCKETT COUNTY (NEAR THE SUTTON COUNTY BORDER) PROMPTED THE CLOSURE
OF INTERSTATE 10 FOR SEVERAL HOURS.

A VIGOROUS UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM MOVED ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PLAINS
ON THE 31ST. WITH GUSTY SOUTH WINDS OUT AHEAD OF THIS SYSTEM...A
PEAK GUST OF 45 MPH WAS RECORDED AT ABILENE ON THE 30TH. FOLLOWING
A COLD FRONTAL PASSAGE ON THE 31ST...WINDS GUSTED TO 43 MPH AT
ABILENE...51 MPH AT SAN ANGELO...AND 47 MPH AT JUNCTION. SOME
LOCALIZED BLOWING DUST ALSO OCCURRED.

$$